Indianapolis floral designer Jasmine Farris won first place at Art in Bloom at the David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University for her interpretation of “Invocation, Variation #3.” © Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Muncie, Ind. – A couple of weeks ago, six Indiana florists used their flower-arranging skills to interpret six pieces of art at the David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University.
Museum curators selected sculptures, paintings, textiles and architectural remnants and charged the florists with presenting the art in flower form. This was the second year for Art in Bloom at the Muncie museum, named for an active donor and member of the local family known for Ball jars.
The event was created to highlight the museum and its collections in the local community and throughout the region, said Barbara Alvarez Bohanon, a retired music teacher and member of the museum’s friends’ group.
The art pieces also were carefully selected to draw visitors throughout the museum’s collection, said Bohanon, a docent at the museum and coordinator of Art in Bloom.
I was privileged to judge this competition with Kari Geary, lead designer of Be Married, the floral division of Bruce Ewing Landscaping in Fort Wayne. Geary won the competition in 2015 with her interpretation of “In Poppyland,” a painting by John Ottis Adams (1851-1927), a member of the Hoosier Group.
First place went to Jasmine Farris, a floral designer with JP Parker Flowers in Indianapolis, for her interpretation of “Invocation, Variation #3,” a copper alloy and steel sculpture by Theodore Roszak (1907-1981).
“During the tour of the museum to see he various artwork I was unexpectedly drawn to one very tall, contemporary piece,” Farris wrote for Art in Bloom’s program.
A native of Thailand, Farris crafted willow, allium, heliconia, antherium, scabiosa pads, dianthus, protea, flax and palm leaves into a piece that strongly resembled the sculpture.
“I had absolutely no idea what it represented, but the moon shaped piece at the top make me think of outer space,” she wrote. “It was later that I discovered that this amazing piece of art did indeed represent space, in the fact that its theme was the Russian satellite Sputnik and the race to space.”
Second place went to floral designer Lisa Pritchett of Dandelions Flowers and Gifts in Muncie. She interpreted “Seated Buddha,” a carved limestone statue from the Wei Dynasty (534-549 CE). She used horsetail, calla lilies, carnations, orchids, roses, hydrangea, moss and mums to create a green and white, undulating design that evoked calm and rest.
The event is expected to continue in 2017. For more information about the museum’s Art in Bloom, please visit: http://bit.ly/1s6XwlV.